F24AS00017 - Species Conservation Catalyst Fund on Songbird Trade

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s mission is to work with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The International Affairs Program delivers on this mission through its technical expertise, international conservation experience, and financial assistance by supporting strategic projects that deliver measurable conservation results for priority species and their habitats around the world. The Combating Wildlife Trafficking Program supports innovative projects to reduce wildlife trafficking. In 2022, the program launched the Species Conservation Catalyst Fund (SCCF) to reduce wildlife trafficking for selected species within the complex social-ecological systems across a species’ trade chain. This Notice of Funding Opportunity launches the SCCF’s third species group, songbirds (suborder Passeri or Oscines, order Passeriformes) native to the Guiana Shield and Caribbean. A distinct market within the widespread caged bird trade of Latin America and the Caribbean is the trade of songbirds for singing competitions. Popular in the Guiana Shield of South America and the Caribbean, this sport consists of “racing” male songbirds to assess which bird can sing a specific song the most in a given time. Evidence suggests that potentially 15 wild bird species native to the Guiana Shield and Caribbean – primarily seed-finches, seedeaters, buntings and grosbeaks – may be experiencing local or range-wide declines due to wild harvest for singing competitions. Current practices of international trade of these songbird species for singing competitions is suspected to be a primary driver of declines, in part because songbirds are typically trafficked with high mortality. This funding opportunity solicits projects to reduce the illegal, unsustainable international trade of native songbirds from the Guiana Shield and Caribbean for singing competitions. Proposals are invited for two broad Objectives: (1) addressing the illegal, unsustainable trade of songbirds or (2) convening and coordinating SCCF Songbird award recipients for projects aimed at meeting Objective 1. Support will be provided for 2–5-year grants and cooperative agreements ranging from $50,000 to $200,000 per year. Please review the full “NOFO Description” file in Related Documents for complete details.